Cardinals Museum to Host Rick Ankiel Book Signing on April 18

ST. LOUIS, Mo., April 10, 2017– The Cardinals have announced that former pitcher/outfielder Rick Ankiel will sign copies of his new book,The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips, and the Pitch that Changed My Life, in the Cardinals Museum from 4:00-6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18.

A limited number of signing tickets—which include a copy of The Phenomenon as well as admission to the Cardinals Museum—are on sale for $30 at cardinals.com/museum. A signing ticket must be purchased in order to obtain an autograph. Autographs will be limited to the book and no other memorabilia will be signed at the event. Fans who purchase a ticket and cannot attend the signing must email museumbook@cardinals.com to arrange pick up or shipping for their copy of The Phenomenonwithin 30 days of the event. There will be an additional cost for shipping.

The Cardinals selected Ankiel in the second round of the June 1997 First-Year Player Draft out of Port St. Lucie (Fla.) High School. He made his major league debut in August of 1999 as a 20 year old and was tabbed Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Year in consecutive seasons (1998-99). In his first full season as a big leaguer in 2000, Ankiel finished second in National League Rookie of the Year balloting after going 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA. His 194 strikeouts that year established a Cardinals rookie single-season record that still stands. In 2005, Ankiel retired as a Major League pitcher to focus on becoming an outfielder.

The lefthander was promoted from Triple-A Memphis and started his first Major League game as a full-time position player in right field on August 9, 2007. Ankiel promptly belted a three-run homer that evening, his first home run since April 26, 2000 (a span of 2,661 days). Ankiel went on to hit 25 home runs the following season and joined Babe Ruth as just the second player in Major League history to hit 25 or more home runs in a season while having previously started 25 or more games as a pitcher. Ankiel retired in 2013 and currently serves as a studio analyst for FOX Sports Midwest.

About the Cardinals Hall of Fame & Museum (#CardsMuseum)

The 8,000 square foot St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum on the second floor of Cardinals Nation in Ballpark Village celebrates the rich history of baseball in St. Louis and the legacy of one of baseball’s most storied franchises. The Cardinals’ museum collection is the largest team-held collection in baseball and is second only to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in terms of size with over 22,000 memorabilia items and hundreds of thousands of archived photographs. The museum is open daily from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and remains open through the seventh inning on home game nights. Fans can learn more about the museum at cardinals.com/museum.